When Will My Childhood Sweetheart Marry Me?-Chapter 198: Code Reflects the Coder

The painting "Dawn" was her best proof that becoming a painter was her dream, but in this lifetime, chasing dreams was only part of it, and with the remaining time, she wanted to do even more meaningful things.

She wanted to watch her young man grow step by step into a towering man, establishing a territory that belonged to Pei Yan.

Princesses need not be aloof.

She, too, could walk amid the dust for her own king.

With you by my side, I’m not afraid of anything.

That was the most beautiful declaration of love that came from her lips—an expression of reliance and unreserved trust.

On a bitterly cold winter night, Pei Yan smiled tenderly, took her small hand, and placed it over his heart. The strong beating from there pulsed through her palm into her veins, spreading like drumbeats to another heart.

Leaving the KTV near half-past ten, regarding last week’s programming assignment, classmate He Shumiao had already sent more than twenty messages of concern.

Tomorrow, Boss Pei was to personally visit the furniture company, and he needed to sort out documents back at the base later that night. In an unspoken understanding, they didn’t bring up going back to the hotel; they followed a group into the campus after swiping their cards. After Pei Yan dropped her at her dormitory building, he was quickly summoned away by a phone call.

Back in the dorm room, Jiang Shuyao quickly showered and was about to get into bed when the lights went out and He Shumiao’s gossip-laden voice came through the darkness.

"Yaoyao, I want to ask you something."

"What’s up?"

He Shumiao leaned on the bed, her eyes sparkling in the late night.

"That girl with brown curly hair, is she Jiang Xubai’s girlfriend?" 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Brown curly hair.

This description first made one think of a Teddy bear.

Jiang Shuyao suppressed a smile: "Are you talking about Zhang Xinxin?"

Silence from the other side.

Actually, what exactly the relationship was between Zhang Xinxin and Jiang Xubai, probably no one at the base really knew.

Officially, they were the girl next door and her brother, but given their clingy degree, it seemed not that simple.

Zhang Xinxin was lively and bold in her actions, while Jiang Xubai seemed impatient on the surface but was inadvertently indulging her, all in all giving a hard-to-describe feeling.

Jiang Shuyao, not wearing socks and still in slippers after her shower, felt the cold creeping into her soles, bringing bouts of chilliness. She wanted to end the conversation quickly.

"Putting aside Jiang Xubai’s personal matters, is there something else you wanted to ask?"

Silence for two seconds.

He Shumiao suddenly slapped her forehead, "I almost forgot, save me, Yaoyao, my computer crashed. Getting it fixed would cost me hundreds of dollars."

Fixing a computer.

Jiang Shuyao frowned slightly: "A blue screen is a common issue; it shouldn’t cost hundreds."

"That’s right, they obviously see I’m a student and want to fleece anyone they can." He Shumiao dashed over and clung to her arm. "Yaoyao, your base has lots of experts; can you take my computer there tomorrow and ask someone to help me look at it?"

"Do you want Jiang Xubai to fix it for you?"

"Yeah, yeah—oh no, anyone will do." He Shumiao’s tongue tied, using the cover of darkness to hide her embarrassment.

Jiang Shuyao saw through it but didn’t say anything, and nodded, "No problem, tomorrow at ten in the morning. If Jiang Xubai is free, I’ll send you a WeChat message in advance."

"Err, it doesn’t have to be Jiang Xubai, others also..."

Alright.

That night at the dorm building, under dim light, she had only glimpsed the girl’s brown curls passing by and the suffocating strong scent of rosemary, which made her roll her eyes.

Purely curious, that’s all.

He Shumiao didn’t plan on arguing; she went there for that reason, just to see what kind of taste the usually aloof and cool Jiang god really had.

The next morning when she got to the base, Boss Pei’s spot was already empty. The furniture company was located on the Fourth Ring Road, and even without traffic jams, the round trip would take over two hours.

Jiang Shuyao couldn’t help but think of something—last time, that guy couldn’t stand a forty-minute car ride to the villa. Today’s journey was so much longer, he wouldn’t possibly be driving there himself.

She tried to imagine someone driving a million-dollar sports car, holding project documents, going to discuss requirements with a client.

The contract pricing, when folded together, probably wouldn’t even cover a fraction of that car’s cost—wouldn’t that seem particularly... hypocritical?

Halfway through the thought, Jiang Shuyao couldn’t help but burst into laughter right where she stood.

Absolutely ridiculous.

Last night, Jiang Xubai had stayed up until dawn, washed his face with cold water in the bathroom, and walked in to suddenly see the boss’s wife laughing beautifully like blooming flowers.

His eyes were dazed, and he quickly shook his head, which had just sobered up, greeted her briefly, and went to his workstation to start the new day’s fierce battle.

Jiang Shuyao remembered He Shumiao’s computer repair issue and stood up to get some water, taking the opportunity to mention it to Jiang Xubai.

She hadn’t expected Jiang Xu to be so generous; he nodded and agreed without hesitation.

"After all, I am the class president. It wouldn’t be nice to lose face."

"So what time should I ask her to come over?"

Jiang Xubai stared at his computer and pondered for two seconds. "Take advantage of the time before the latest requirements come in—this morning is relatively free, so let’s do it now."

A WeChat message was sent, and He Shumiao soon appeared at their base, carrying her computer.

She headed straight for Jiang Shuyao’s workstation and whispered, "Why isn’t the brown curly-haired one here?"

Zhang Xinxin, the name was easy enough to remember, but compared to ’brown curly-haired,’ the latter was more distinctive.

Jiang Shuyao shook her head. "It’s too early; she’s probably not up yet."

"..."

He Shumiao narrowed her eyes.

Mental note number one, lazy.

Actually, few university girls weren’t lazybones on weekends; He Shumiao, who was used to leading a spartan life, sneered at the notion of sleeping until lunchtime.

Yet in dormitory 618, every day Jiang Shuyao came to the base, Fang Wei insisted on running in the morning, and Zhong Yuan was usually practicing the piano on the rooftop at six sharp.

Compared to other girls, the four of them were practically leading a nunnery lifestyle.

After He Shumiao went to find Jiang Xu, the air around her grew colder, and that familiar sense of boredom surged up again.

She sat for a while until a sudden email notification popped up in the bottom right corner.

The subject line made the corner of her eye twitch, "Princess, good morning."

Boss Pei was still at the furniture company at this time; the email must have been set to send automatically.

Opening the email and downloading the compressed file inside, Jiang Shuyao was stunned when she saw the directory document.

She was familiar with the contents; those were the tough problems she had left behind from yesterday’s web design book study.

But the details were slightly different from what she had written; they had been modified.

Pei Yan’s code, like himself, was sharp and unique, yet straightforward and unobstructed, openly laid bare for you to see.

The parts highlighted in red were his alterations, with slash comments attached to each block of code, so detailed she held her breath, afraid to miss a thing.

The readability was incredibly strong; the standard was textbook-like.

She was sure, if he were to verbally explain it to her, he probably couldn’t be this thorough.

Some things, when spoken, only require a few words.

But typing them out, character by character in Chinese, the weight was incomparable.

After spending half an hour, Jiang Shuyao opened the compiler, practiced while researching, and once everything came together, it was almost eleven o’clock.

She twisted open her water bottle for a sip, rubbed her sore eyes, and every time she closed them, she saw the face of the code’s creator, wild and unrestrained.

When was Boss Pei coming back?

Jiang Shuyao couldn’t help but smile.

That guy must have put a spell on his code.

Otherwise, why would she suddenly miss him so much...